Modern memory devices push the limits of fabrication technology by packing memory cells into smaller and smaller areas. The density of memory cells in a memory device may become so dense that electron leakage contributes to memory failure.
One issue with memory devices that are high density is they often have one or more fabrication joints in the memory array. These fabrication joints allow for higher density arrays of memory cells, and thus higher capacity memory devices. Unfortunately the presence of a fabrication joint can lead to problems.
One known issue is that the fabrication joint may leak charge between adjacent memory strings in a high-density memory cell array, especially in the presence of fabrication errors. Memory strings are also referred to herein as ‘memory channels’. This leakage can lead to programming difficulties and/or inaccurate results when the memory is programmed or read.